Why So Sirius?
by x.Anaphora.x
Summary: In their second year Sirius Black and James Potter made a bet to figure out who was really better at getting girls. James had to win Lily and Sirius had to win Eirian. Both known Marauders haters. They didn't think that they'd actually fall for the girls
1. Why So Irritating?

**Why So Irritating?**

**Author's Note:: **_Hi everyone. This is my first attempt at writing a Marauder's Era story and I hope that it's one you enjoy. I don't really have much to say other that (in general) all characters whose names you recognize belong to J.K. Rowling, all whose names are new to you belong to me. Happy reading!_

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**The Hogwarts' Express 1972**

Eirian scanned the compartments of the Hogwarts Express looking for her best friend. Her thoughts were on the upcoming year at Hogwarts. Without having to worry about whether or not she'd be sorted into the wrong house, she didn't have to deal with the nervous excitement of last year.

As she was beginning to consider giving up her search, she caught sight of her friend's red hair, sticking out of a compartment, looking the opposite way of Eirian. "Lily!" Eirian called and her friend's head whipped around. Lily smiled and stepped out of the compartment waving to Eirian.

"How was your summer?" Lily asked, once Eirian had reached the compartment. They entered together.

"Oh, good I guess. We didn't vacation this year, but we had a lot of family come to visit. I missed you something awful though." Eirian said sitting down next to Lily.

"Hello, Severus." She greeted the boy who was sitting across from Lily. Little had she known last year that when she befriended her dorm mate, she had befriended Severus too. Actually, Severus and Eirian weren't really friends. They just shared a mutual best friend and were polite to each other. He wasn't as bad as his friends, but in the back of her head, Eirian still heard her sister's warnings against Slytherins whenever she saw him. There was an obvious difference about Severus when he was with Lily as opposed to when she saw him in the halls, or eating lunch with his friends. It was probably due the fact that he obviously fancied Lily.

"Hello, Eirian." Severus said, from his seat in the corner by the window. He sounded slightly annoyed, but he always sounded slightly annoyed.

"We were just talking about my summer, before I started looking for you. You're late."

"I know. Rhys through a temper tantrum and dad had to resolve it before we could leave. Then of course we realized that we were almost out of Floo Powder, so mum wrote it on her shopping list. And then there was the usual 20 minutes of hugging, kissing, and going over how we're to behave. I'm just glad that Tesni and I made it on the train I can't wait to be at Hogwarts."

"Me neither!" Lily agreed earnestly. "SO anyway, I was just telling Sev the story of the time that Tunney and I fought over the one blouse. I told you about it in that letter." Lily said before turning back to face Severus. Eirian wondered why Severus hadn't been told about it in a letter."So, as I was saying, Petunia got so angry she snatched it right out of my hands. I told her that if she didn't give it back, I'd turn her into a frog. Of course, she doesn't know that I can't do magic outside of school, so right away she gave me my shirt back." Lily finished smiling big. "That ends my biggest tale of the summer. What did you do over your summer, Sev?"

"Nothing." Severus responded.

"Nothing?" Eirian asked. She knew her summer was boring and would almost merit being called 'nothing', but she was at least able to find some good in it.

"Well I wrote letters." He admitted a bit deliberately.

"You didn't write me any letters." Lily sounded a little bit hurt. "And you only visited once. I know Tunney's a little hard to be around, but really Sev, a whole summer?" That answered Eirian's question. Since Lily was muggleborn and didn't have an owl she had to wait for other people to write to her first. She used school owls to write to her parents."Who were you writing too?"

"Avery, McNair, my other friends…"

"Them?" Eirian and Lily asked together.

"Why? What's wrong with them?" he asked getting defensive. "They aren't like Potter and Black and his gang."

"What's this got to do with Potter?" Lily asked getting mad at the mention of him. She had no patience for him and his gang, and after meeting them for the first time Eirian agreed with her views. All of her experiences last year with the Marooders, or whatever it was that they called themselves, with hadn't been good ones. The word chaos came to mind.

"Or Black?" Eirian added. She hadn't noticed that the door was slid open until it was too late to do anything about it.

"I told you they were missing us, Sirius." James Potter and Sirius Black stood in the doorway for a brief second before they came in and sat down.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Eirian asked flatly.

"A simple hello would have been enough, but we'll take what we can get." James said putting his arms behind his head. "So Evans, miss me?" he asked and he put his feet in between Lily and Eirian. Sirius stretched his legs out on the floor. Sev seemed to be boiling with rage, but then again, Lily and Eirian probably looked the same way. There was just something about these boys (possibly the fact that their arrogance made them popular) that made her hate them.

"Not at all. Now get out before your fat head takes up all the space in this compartment." Lily said angrily.

"Snivellus hasn't had a turn to talk to us yet though." Sirius said pouting. James flung an arm around Severus, who had retracted into the corner as far as he could. James and Sirius hated Severus with a passion. It was their goal in life to humiliate him and make him miserable whenever the chance showed itself.

" ." Severus whispered scathingly, not even bothering to move the arm.

"So soon?" James asked. "I'd rather stay. I like it in here. Cozy, really." Eirian shoved James' feet off the seat. "Now Saise what made you do that?"

"I'm making it easier for you to leave. Get out, Potter. You too, Black." Eirian glared.

"I thought we were having a lovely time." Black said in mock surprise.

"Nobody here likes you. Go back to Pettigrew, why don't you? He probably doesn't know what to do with himself now that you're gone."

"Now that wasn't a very nice thing to say." Potter said.

"Remind me to leave you an apology in my will." Eirian retorted.

"Clever, this one." Black commented. "You could take lessons from her Snivellus. Maybe she'd help you gro-"

"Finish that sentence, and I'll make you wish you hadn't." Lily said, he wand out.

"Well I can see we're not welcome here." Potter said standing up in mock offense. Black followed suit. "See you at Hogwarts." The two exited the compartment.

"You okay, Sev?" Lily asked stowing her wand.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Severus sniffed. Lily sighed.

"So, you said you had family visiting?" Lily asked to lighten the situation, and the three began to to talk again, trying to put James and Sirius from their minds.

James and Sirius exited the compartment and continued down to where Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew were sitting.

"What a friendly lot." Sirius joked.

"You know, I wouldn't be surprised if we were invited to spend Christmas with them. Of course there is the question of whose we'd choose to attend."

"Well we'd have to choose Snivellus' of course. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we broke his poor little heart." Sirius said and they reentered the compartment laughing. Remus was engulfed in a book, but Peter looked over from where he was gazing out the window.

"We're back." James announced sitting next to Remus. Sirius took a seat next to Peter, with a nice amount of space in between them.

"Where have you been? It shouldn't take that long to change into your robes." Remus asked his eyes still on his book. He finished the page and closed it looking at them.

"We visited our dear friends. Evans, Saise, and Snivellus." James said. "They invited us to sit with them when we got there." Peter laughed nervously.

"Shouldn't we try to be nice to Severus this year? After all it's not too late to apologize." Remus suggested.

"Apologize? Blacks never apologize." Sirius scoffed.

"And neither does this Potter." James added. Remus sighed and opened up his book again.

"So Sirius, I was thinking, it's our second year here and time to liven things up a little bit."

"What did you have in mind, mate?" Sirius asked, leaning forward. Peter leaned forward too, and Sirius shot him a look.

"I was thinking that we should start it off with a bet?" James started.

"I like where this is going." Sirius nodded

"Well since we are just so popular why don't we make a bet on who can get a girl the first?" James suggested.

"That's too easy." Sirius said.

"Not if we pick out a specific girl for each other, and you know, just in case you need some more incentive, the winner should get five galleons."

"Five? I'll give you fifteen galleons if you can get who I'm thinking of." Sirius objected.

"Alright fifteen galleons then. Do we have a deal?"

"Deal. I'll choose first. I say Evans."

"Evans? Then you get Saise."

"Saise?"

"You gave me Evans."

"Fair enough."

"Don't you think that Lily and Eirian won't be very happy to be bet over?" Remus asked. "You guys already aren't on the best terms."

"They won't find out." James dismissed.


	2. Why So Different?

**Why So Different?**

**Author's Note:: **_This is a little bit shorter than I intended, but hopefully it'll still do. Please read and review!_

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**The Hogwarts Express 1976**

Eirian slammed the door on the backs of Potter and Black. "Every single year." She sighed, as she turned back to Lily. "Every year they seem to have this irrepressible desire to come and bother us." She sat down across from Lily. "All these years I thought they were coming to bother Severus. But do you see him in this compartment? No!" Eirian looked at Lily. Lily was looking down at her feet, her red hair formed a wall around her face, but Eirian knew that her friend was a little hurt by the fact that Severus wasn't with them. Eirian bit her lip. "I'm sorry, Lily. I forgot."

"It's fine." Lily waved a hand dismissively, looking up at Eirian. "He left us the moment he called me that horrible name. Besides, I don't even know if he was ever really with us after he became friends with _them_." Lily's bright green eyes bore into hers. "It's just us now."

"Don't say it like that." Eirian said, something felt uneasy in her stomach. "What about Mary or Sonia? And Janet isn't unfriendly. You can't say we've gone through six years of Hogwarts and only to make two friends."

"Yeah, we have _friends_ but everyone else has groups of close friends. We just have each other."

"Well, _you _have Potter." Eirian said, grinning a little. She wanted to get off of the topic and teasing Lily about the fact that Potter fancied her always got Lily going.

"Eirian! That's not even funny." Lily spurted out as the train jerked to a stop. Eirian stood up, still smiling, and grabbed some of her luggage. "Don't forget that Sirius makes his annual attempt on you." Lily argued standing up as well.

"Yes, Lily, annual. He doesn't continually follow me and stare at me and try extra hard to impress me."

"Remember third year, when he tried to kiss you. James never tried to kiss me." Lily continued as the stepped off of the train.

"That was three years ago, and after a couple of hexed snowballs, he didn't try again all year. You pushed James into freezing cold lake water last February and he still hasn't quit coming after you. That's commitment. True love, even." Eirian laughed at Lily's face.

"The day I say I love James Potter is the day the Minister of Magic awards Pettigrew a medal for bravery!" Eirian laughed so hard she began to cry, and soon Lily joined in.


	3. Why So Unshakable?

**Why So Unshakable?**

**Author's Note:: **_I'm still trying to figure out the way that Eirian interacts with the Marauders and Lily, so here's a bit of a test run. If you have any comments or ideas, let me know!_

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**The Great Hall 1976**

It seemed that every year, Dumbledore's speech grew more boring. Last year he thought that it had hit the cap, but this year, James just wanted to cut either cut off his own ears, or glue Dumbledore's tongue to the roof of his mouth. However, James would rather not spend four days in the Hospital Wing or a week in detention. Instead, he decided to occasionally glance over at Lily Evans, and by "occasionally glance over", he meant stare.

Sirius was too busy messing with the Slytherins to notice, Remus had smuggled in a book, and Pettigrew was actually intently listening to the speech. It was the opportune moment. With everyone already otherwise engaged, they wouldn't notice that his head wasn't angled up the way it should have been if he had actually been looking up at Dumbledore. He probably would have gotten away with staring at her, if it hadn't been for the fact that two minutes after Dumbledore had invited them to "tuck in" he still hadn't even reached for a bite of food.

"Hey mate, if you're not careful your face will freeze like that." Sirius joked. Remus and Peter laughed as James' head whipped back around to his friends.

"Like what?" James asked defensively, beginning to pile food onto his plate.

"All lovesick. It's quite disgusting. I mean could we at least finish our food first?" Sirius continued, sending Peter into hysterics. Remus looked at Peter and chuckled shaking his head.

"He's got a point, you know."

"I'm just strategizing. It's more than you can say, Sirius. It's been, what, four years and you still haven't made a move on Eirian."

"I've had distractions." Sirius said, eyeing Karen Enders who smiled back. "And you can't say I haven't tried. I did, I do. Once every year. Remember, I tried to kiss my challenge." Sirius shoveled some mashed potatoes into his math.

"What haven't you tried to kiss?" Remus asked, and James almost choked on his pumpkin juice.

"James goes after Lily way more than you go after Eirian. You hardly even talk to her except when she's with Lily and you're with James." Peter chirped. Sirius glared at him.

"It's true." Remus said standing up for Peter. "You can't pretend anymore that she's not your type. She's breathing and beautiful."

Sirius looked down the table to where Eirian was smiling as Mary MacDonald animatedly told a story. He was right. Eirian had finally grown out of her quirky look and become undeniably attractive. Her curly blonde hair which had previously been cut at an odd shoulder length haircut, now hung long. Her fair skin, which had previously appeared grey, was like porcelain. She had grown to be about 5'7" or 5'8" , almost as tall as he was. The only thing that had stayed the same about Eirian (besides her personality) was her big, bright, beautiful blue eyes. For the first time, Sirius looked at her as if she wasn't just a part of the bet, but actually a dateable girl. The change had happened over time, but it was only now that he actually noticed.

"You know mate," he said turning to James. "This year I will try as hard as you do. Starting after I finish this meal." James laughed and Remus rolled his eyes.

**The Hallway In Front of the Great Hall 1976**

Dinner cleared finally and people began to file out. Lily had left the table with Remus to help him escort the first years to the common room, leaving Eirian on her own. Rather, on her own with Mary and Sonia who were giggling to themselves. The three moved through the crowd, with general ease until Eirian realized that Sonia and Mary were no longer by her side. "Great." She grumbled but continued on her way. She hated it when Sonia and Mary left her alone. Suddenly she wasn't alone.

"Walking by yourself can be dangerous Saise, you ought to know that." Black said putting an arm around her shoulder. "Good thing I'm here to escort you."

"Yeah, because there are so many dangerous things inside of Hogwarts. Now get off me." Eirian said storming out from under his arm and up the stairs.

"C'mon, Saise." Sirius said, following her. "Walk with me. Talk with me."

"Don't you have Potter for that?"

"I have Potter and you have Lily, but here we are alone." Eirian noticed Peter Pettigrew trailing behind them.

"I wouldn't say alone." She commented before walking up ahead of him. Eirian heard a few cross words and smiled to herself. _"So easily distracted. One of these days I may actually have to thank Pettigrew."_ Unfortunately, she found Sirius by her side again.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Saise. Has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?"

Eirian was caught off guard, but quickly tried to hide her shock. "You're like the plague." She narrowed her eyes.

"That's not an answer." He said, shooting her his most dazzling smile. If Sonia had been here she would have been all over him, giggling and flirting. "It's true, though. You're stunning. "

"If you expect me to fall for this, you seriously underestimate my intelligence. I'm not a tart."

"I would never-"

"Go away, Black."

"We're going to the same place." Eirian groaned inwardly. "C'mon, Saise. You can't say that there's no chemistry between us." Sirius insisted.

"Don't make me laugh. Why don't you go back to Potter? You can tell him you've made your annual attempt at me, and then let me alone."

"Why would I want to leave someone as beautiful as you alone?"

"Because if you don't I may have to push you down the stairs."

"You have spirit Saise, I like that." Sirius said trying to corner her into a wall.

"Let me get to the common room." Eirian said patiently.

"Why are you in such a rush?"

"I'm always in a rush to get away from pigheaded boys like you." Eirian glared.

"You love me."

"Drop dead. You're a cruel, egotistical jerk. If you think that I'm going to fawn over you like the other girl because out of the blue you've decided to go after me, you have another thing coming. You're sudden interest in me is completely unbelievable. I'm not interested in being another one of your pranks or jokes, or whatever it is you want to call it. Now let me pass." Eirian ranted, from her position against a wall, between his hands.

"This isn't sudden. I tried striking up a conversation on the train too. You're just listening to me for the first time, instead of whipping out your wand right away."

"I'm the one who whips out their wand right away?" Eirian asked, taking a stab at his alleged promiscuity.

"Now that's not fair or even true." Sirius chided.

"Since when did you ever fight fair?" Eirian smirked, finally giving up on convincing him to let her alone, and ducking under his arm, pushing him to the side. She hurried off to the common room, leaving Sirius there.

James and Peter came up from the stairs. James placed his hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Better luck next year." James remarked.

"Not next year." Sirius shook his head looking at him. "No, this is the year I win our bet. She's interested in me; otherwise she wouldn't have stuck around so long." James laughed.

"That's why she pushed away from you twice."

"How much fun is Quidditch when the Snitch comes to you?" Sirius countered.


	4. Why So Hypocritical?

**Why So Hypocritical?**

**Author's Note:: **_I actually don't have too much to say about this chapter, except, once again, I'm sorry about the brevity. I'm hoping to be releasing longer ones in the future._

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**Gryffindor Girl's Dormitory 1976**

Eirian paced around her dorm, ranting to an amused Lily. "Unbelievable. Can you believe him? What was he thinking? Trying that in front of my friends! I cannot believe him! I don't even know why he would ever believe that was funny idea. Urgh! I had half a mind to hex him right there. If it wasn't for Dumbledore, believe me, I would have. You can quote me on that. "Lily laughed.

"You know what I can't believe? How many times you used the word "believe." Lily joked, poking fun at how repetitive Eirian got when she was frustrated. Eirian rolled her eyes. "Who knows , Eir? Maybe he actually likes you." Lily suggested. "Maybe he loooooves you." Lily elongated the o and made a funny face at Eirian.

"That's not even funny, Lily." Eirian snapped.

"Oh, Eirian you can be such a hypocrite. You were making fun of me for the exact same thing only a few hours ago."

"That," Eirian held up a finger, "was different."

"How so?"

"Well for one thing…" Eirian started and then gave up. "You know. Urgh!" Eirian let out another frustrated sigh before sinking onto her trunk, her head in her hands. "You don't think he'll try it again, do you?" she asked looking up at Lily, but keeping her hands in position, just in case she had to hide her face again.

"Am I sensing fear Miss Saise?" Lily teased.

"No. All Saises are born without the ability to feel fear." Eirian lied, now letting her hands lie across her knees.

"Then don't worry about it." Lily smiled. "Like you said, it'll pass and we can always come up with something to scare them away. We know them. They do whatever they think will make get them attention, and you r reaction is exactly what he wants."

"You're right."

"It's a habit." Lily smiled and Eirian laughed.

"Maybe I should just ignore him, and if he gets to annoying there's always the Bat Bogey hex."

"There are many wonderful hexes." Lily agreed. "Jinxes too." Eirian smiled and stood up.

"Problem solved." She nodded. _"For now."_


	5. Why So Paranoid?

**Why So Paranoid?**

**Author's Note:: **_So after looking at how short the last chapter was, I felt a little guilty and wrote this one! Hopefully you can see the subplot coming through!_

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**Hogwarts Hallways 1976**

Eirian walked down the stairs with Lily, on their way to Charms. "The only thing wrong with OWLS is that now we have to work hard in our classes." Eirian commented. Lily smiled.

"As if you didn't work hard before. I swear, Eir, you spend as much time studying as a Ravenclaw."

"Wanting to get good grades isn't a crime, and if I want to be an Auror or Professor, I'm going to have to know my stuff."

"True," Lily conceded. "And I guess that you wouldn't be in the Slug Club with me either, if you weren't so brilliant."

"See, it's all to your benefit." Eirian said as the two entered the classroom. The seats were already mostly filled, however the pair was signaled over by Sonia Minnet who was pointing at two seats saved beside her and Mary MacDonald. Eirian smiled in acknowledgement of the gesture and made her way over to the dormmates.

"How'd you get here so fast?" Eirian asked, taking a seat next to Sonia.

"We weren't very hungry, finished breakfast early." Sonia said dismissively.

"Did you read the Daily Prophet though?" Mary asked Eirian and Lily.

"I skimmed it." Lily responded leaning forward on her desk so she had a better look at the participants in the conversation.

"So you saw there's been more disappearances?" Mary asked.

"It's terrible." Lily shook her head. "I have a feeling that they aren't sharing the whole truth though. I mean, people don't just wander off in the middle of the night because they're tired of their lives. I mean, I guess some do, but this will bring the number up to 40. There's even been a full family that's just gone." Eirian had heard her parents whispering in the kitchen about the missing people a few days before she left for Hogwarts. "The disappearances aren't just in the Wizarding World, they're spreading around the muggle world too. People don't know what to think."

"My mom's talking about taking me out of Hogwarts if this continues to happen." Sonia put in, casually.

"What?" The other three all turned to look at her.

"She doesn't want the family to split up in case things start to get worse or our neighborhood is targeted or something. I don't know; I never understand her." Sonia shrugged.

"Sonia, that's a terrible idea. Hogwarts has to be the safest place for you. I mean people would be crazy to attack the school with all the professors here. Especially Dumbledore, he's the most brilliant wizard I know. That anyone knows." Eirian amended.

"You don't have to convince me, I'm just saying that if I don't come back after Christmas, well…" Sonia trailed off. Just like her. Eirian wasn't sure whether or not to believe the story. Sonia had a tendency to make up stories so that people paid attention to her more.

"You're mother's just paranoid. I'm sure things will get better." Mary asserted, rather unconvincingly.

Professor Flitwick walked onto his tower of books. "Let's begin!" he shouted as loudly as he could in his squeaky voice, and the class started.


	6. Why So Defensive?

**Why So Defensive?**

**Author's Note:: **_Well, here we have it, a fight. I must admit I'm not the best at these scenes, but I think it's a rather enjoyable way to introduce a new dynamic and foundations for a new conflict inside of Hogwarts. Please enjoy, and next chapter(or the one after that) I'm thinking of introducing a new character, due to popular demand ;)_

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**Hogwarts Hallways 1976**

"I would like a 5 inch essay on the practical uses of the Sticking Charm by Wednesday!" Flitwick squeaked. Next to Eirian, Sonia groaned. The class began to pack up and file out of the classroom, Lily and Eirian included.

"This is what separates the sixth years from the first years, I guess." Lily commented as the pair exited the room. "You could wait three weeks as a first year before you get your first essay for a class, sixth year the first day back and there it is, waiting for you."

"True, but I can't imagine that it will be too hard to find 'practical uses' for the Sticking Charm." Eirian responded. "Where do you want to spend break?"

Lily took a moment to think about it. "We might as well head to the library and start working on the essay." Eirian nodded and they made their way up the stairs. As the two girls passed a hallway (less frequented by students due to the fact that the lighting never seemed particularly great and it was rumored that the suits of armor liked to move) they heard voices.

"Let me down! Let me down! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to—"

_"Silencio!"_

"What's going on?" Eirian whispered to Lily, her eyebrows furrowed in concern

"Your guess is as good as mine." Lily shrugged. "Let's go see." Eirian nodded and they turned down the hallway. Before them, a small group of Slytherins (it seemed like there was four, maybe 5) encircled a small boy, probably a 3rd or 4th year, who was hanging in the air by his ankle. Eirian looked at him, even from upside down he had a striking resemblance. The straight blonde hair with the cowlick in front, green eyes, small upturned nose. He looked just like Rhys.

Lily pulled Eirian's arm. "Let's go get a teacher." She whispered.

"You go, I'll take care of this." Eirian said, shrugging out of Lily's grasp.

"I'm not just going to leave you here. You might do something stupid." Lily crossed her arms and tilted her head.

"I'm about to do something very stupid, but I'm a Gryffindor. Foolhardy bravery is what we do right?"

"It's what Potter and his gang does." Lily corrected.

"Oy!" Eirian yelled, moving forward towards the circle. "What's wrong with you?" she snapped. Five heads turned towards her, one almost comical as he dangled, if she wasn't so angry about it. She looked at the faces in the circle. Rosier, Mulciber, Avery, and Wilkes. She could have guessed.

"This doesn't involve you." Evan Rosier responded coolly, looking over from where he had the boy suspended in the air.

"No, but somehow I have a feeling that this boy didn't want to be involved either. Why don't you let him be, and we can have a swap out." Eirian said taking out her wand. Rosier raised an eyebrow and looked at his friends, letting the boy drop. Mulciber also took out his wand as the boy ran out into the greater hallway. Avery and Wilkes stepped forward as did Lily. Two against four. This would be fun.

_"Expelliarmus!" _ Eirian said pointing her want at Mulciber, who deflected the spell.

"Little bit juvenile don't you think?" Mulciber asked.

"Not if it works." Eirian responded, dodging an attack from Rosier. She continued blocking jets of light. "Never underestimate simple spells." Eirian continued. "_Obscuro_!" Rosier stumbled and thrust his hands out in front of him, unable to see.

"Bitch!" Mulciber cursed. A jet of blue light flew past Eirian's ear and just missed Mulciber.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you never to hit a girl, Mulciber?" Eirian tightened her grip on her wand. She had half a mind to turn and join forces with Mulciber against the newcomer. Black sauntered forward so he was next to Eirian. Black fired off another spell which was cast to the side with an easy swipe of the wand. Behind her, Eirian heard a small yelp as Lily was thrown backwards into a wall. Potter, who had probably materialized along with Black, knocked out the spell caster who had hurt Lily.

"Stop." From down the hall a tall thin boy, with extremely pale skin and a large hooked nose walked forward. He had shoulder length, greasy black hair and dark, almost black eyes. The Slytherins turned and looked at him. "Enough." Mulciber narrowed his eyes.

"Listen, Severus—"

"Come to play, Snivellus? Wanted to help fight the muggleborns and blood traitors?" Potter asked, glaring.

"Stay out of this Potter." Severus responded coolly. The three functioning Slytherins, along with Rosier stood opposite the three Gryffindors.

"Well it appears as if you're attacking my friends, so I'm going to decline the invitation."

"I'm not your friend." Eirian hissed, although she was ignored.

"It's done. Come on." Severus said, motioning with his head for the Slytherins to leave.

"Run away, Snivellus" Potter said. "Just like the coward you are." Severus' eyes widened and then narrowed.

"_Stupefy_!" Severus hissed and Potter side dodged it.

"Is that the best you got? _Levicorpus!_" Snape was lifted up. The other Slytherins' wands pointed to Potter. Black and Eirian (despite herself) joined sides with Potter, as the Slytherins began firing spells. It wasn't long after the second assault began that all of the students found themselves thrown back from eachother.

"Stop!" Eirian looked at the voice, fear welling up in her stomach. "You four, Professor Slughorn is waiting for you in his office. Take your friend with you. The three of you come with me." Professor McGonagall commanded.

"What?" Eirian asked, incredulous. "I was just—"

"Now." McGonagall repeated, Eirian shut her mouth. Lily stood up from where she was slouched on the wall.

"But, wait Eirian was just – " Lily tried, and McGonagall ignored her. Eirian filed out behind Black with her head down. She should have listened to Lily.


	7. Why So Punitive?

**Why So Punitive?**

**Author's Note:: **_Apparently I have no idea what the word soon means. Still, better late than never I suppose. Here's a very small bit of something until I can get the rest written though. I apologize for being a terrible person when it comes to this._

* * *

**Professor McGonagall's Office 1976**

Eirian filed into McGonagall's office, at the end of the line. She wondered where the saying "staring daggers into one's head" came from, and if there was really a possibility that somehow she could conjure daggers into Black's skull by staring really hard at the back of his head. Not to be cheated out of a happy surprise, Eirian continued her glaring until she got through the door.

"Miss Saise, please close the door." McGonagall ordered shortly, and Eirian did as she was told. She took her seat in a chair that was pulled in front of McGongall's desk, regretfully placed next to Black. There was a moment of silence as McGonagall stared at them across her desk.

"You three…" she started, quietly. "Black and Potter, I'd expect. But Miss Saise, I have to say that I'm quite surprised."

Eirian looked at the floor.

"Fighting with other students in Hogwarts is completely unacceptable." McGonagall said sharply.

"They were attacking Lily and Eirian—" Potter interrupted.

"And I suppose it was impossible to find a professor?" She cut across him. McGonagall turned to Eirian. "And Miss Saise, next time a few defensive spells in order to extricate yourself would do. Miss Evans was obviously able to." Eirian had to restrain herself from retorting that Lily had been forcibly extricated by a stunning spell and had not chosen to leave herself; however, doing so would get Lily into the same undeserved punishment.

"Yes, Ma'am." She responded quietly.

"You will have a week's worth of detentions with Mr. Filch." Potter and Black's faces brightened for a second, before McGonagall continued seeing the change in expression. "Lines, as I'm well aware how much you boys enjoy working around the school, especially in the trophy case."

Eirian remembered hearing about how they had animated all of the people on the trophies to run around cause mayhem in the school, and how in a different detention they had changed the names on most of the trophies to James and Sirius, with the exception of bestowing a few horrible awards on Severus.

"This starts tonight at 8 o'clock until lights out."

The boys protested. Eirian remained silent.

"We do not tolerate using magic to harm fellow students, and that is final. You may go." It was less grant of permission than a command. James and Sirius walked out. Eirian started to get up from her chair. She didn't want to talk to them or even look at them.

"Miss Saise, a word." McGonagall stopped her. Eirian lowered herself back into her chair.

"Would you kindly tell me what led you to such an act as this? I have come to expect a disregard for the rules from Potter and Black, but from you?"

Eirian's stomach tightened and her heart sank. She wasn't sure that she'd ever felt so guilty.

"Professor, the boys were attacking a Third Year."

"Excuse me?"

"Lily, and I were walking up from Charms, and we heard shouting. When we turned the corner the Slyterins, Rosier, Mulciber—"

"I know who was involved." McGonagall said shortly.

"Yes, well, they had this boy hanging in the air. Lily wanted to get a professor, but I just wanted them to let him go. I confronted them to stop, and then they turned on me." She left out the part where she sort of invited them to fight with her. "Well, then Black and Potter jumped in when Lily got hit with a spell that missed me, and then Severus came to break it up, but he started going at it with Black and Potter, and everything got much worse."

McGonagall sat quietly, taking it all in. Eirian wished she could read McGonagall's face and know what was going on in her head.

"A Third Year?" she said finally.

"Or Fourth." Eirian said quietly.

"Fighting with other students is still not permissible." McGonagall commented. Eirian nodded.

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"However, I can understand how you could be tempted given the circumstances." A moment of relief. "I hope you understand, this does not mean that you get out of detention. However, since it is your first offense in six years, and you seemed to feel justified in it, I believe that perhaps three nights of lines will teach you the lesson."

"Thank you, Professor."

"You're free to go." Eirian got up out of the chair, much quicker this time and exited the office. A mixture of furiousness with Black and Potter for escalating the situation and the Slytherins for starting it in the first place, and relief at Professor McGonagall not thinking any less of her.


	8. Why So Deluded?

**Why So Deluded?**

**Author's Note:: **_A couple of chapters ago I promised that I would introduce a new character this chapter, and I was going to, but I couldn't find a time or place, what with Eirian going to detention and all. So instead I added a different interaction and I'm planning on bringing him/her in sometime soon. I hope you like it. If you feel like trying it out, the new reviewing system is really cool!  
_

* * *

**The Halls Outside of McGonagall's Office 1976**

"Eirian!" Lily stood up quickly from where she had been sitting on the ground outside of Professor McGonagall's office. Apparently she had been waiting for Eirian. Eirian continued walking down the hallway, making her way to the common room. Lily started walking alongside of her, matching her pace. "Well, what happened in there? Black and Potter came out a while ago, why did she keep you?"

"She just wanted to know what happened. Don't worry Lily, I left you out of it." Eirian said, still feeling rather dismal about the whole circumstance.

"You know I don't care." Lily dismissed, waving a hand.

"Shouldn't you been to the Hospital Wing? You hit your head pretty hard."

"I went. Madame Pomfrey just put something on it and gave me a draught. Nothing too serious."

"So did she give them what for?"

"Not really, no. She was rather upset at first, but she didn't really holler. She just gave us detention."

"Us? You don't mean _you_ got detention?" Lily was shocked.

"Most people get detention when they fight in Hogwarts, Lily." Eirian decided to leave out the part where she sort of initiated the fight.

"Yeah, but it's _you, _Eir. I mean when's the last time you ever got into any sort of trouble and those Slytherins completely deserved it. Potter and Black too. I mean just think about all of the times they haven't gotten caught for torturing poor students. But Eirian." Lily was sympathetic now. Eirian knew the "poor students" that Lily was referring too was really just Severus. Even after all he said and all the choices he made, Lily still had a soft spot for him. Her kind heart was inspiring and downright annoying

"Eirian, I don't understand why you're not more upset about this." Lily said softly. "You can't tell me that you're looking forward to spending hours of your time with Potter and Black. What's your punishment, by the way?"

"Lines with Filch."

"Well at least it's lines. Could be worse. I heard that Xavier Miller had to help care for animals in the Forbidden Forrest."

"Professor McGonagall did let me off easy. I only have to do three nights lines instead of the week like Potter and Black. And it's only from eight until curfew, so I still have time to eat dinner and do homework, and I should make it back before the Fat Lady falls asleep." Eirian was trying to convince herself that it really wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be. It was only one hour doing lines with Potter and Black, and possibly a handful of would-be Death Eaters.

"You know, I'm rather tired of Potter and Black's constant need to show off in front of us. I mean sure, I am glad that they thought to step in and help during the fight, but they really escalated the situation. What good is bravery if it's foolhardy?"

"Can we talk about something else?" Eirian asked quietly.

"Oh, sure." Lily turned soft again. "I'm sorry Eirian, I just hate it when such…" she paused, searching for the right word. "injustice happens. I just wish the whole fight hadn't happened."

"You know, if it's anyone's fault it's the Slytherins. What were they doing picking on that poor boy. He couldn't have been older than 14."

"It's strange, Eirian. I don't like it. All of these aspiring Death Eaters running around Hogwarts, it's downright scary. And I don't understand why no one else stopped when they heard it."

"For all we know, we got there at the beginning. But maybe Sonia's mother is right—"

"Eirian! You can't be serious."

"Not about taking Sonia out of school or anything. Just, maybe Hogwarts isn't as safe as we thought it was. Maybe there will be attacks. Not as bad as what's happening outside, but think about it Lil." Eirian stopped and moved to the wall out of the flow of traffic. "If a dark wizard wants to get at students, these students who have a natural affinity for dark arts are the perfect weapons."

Lily didn't answer.

"I mean, Hogwarts is so charmed that no one can get in if Dumbledore doesn't want them to. But students are invited in every year, and they can go home and come back on the breaks with new stuff and information. We're not exactly guarded against ourselves are we? And there's always the plea of them just being mean people, not dark wizards."

"You're not saying that there's going to be murders in Hogwarts, are you?" Lily asked. "Because that's ridiculous. Dumbledore would never let that happen."

"No, no, no. I'm just saying, that we'd better be watching out, because I have a feeling things are just going to get worse. Only next time," Eirian lightened up. "We'll get a professor."

"You know I don't like Avery or Mulciber, but I just can't believe what you're saying. This is Hogwarts. This is as safe as it gets."

"You're probably right. It's just Sonia and Mary got me thinking."

"Oh, then we have a real problem." Lily teased, smiling for the first time. "You know you're addled when you start believing what they're saying. "

"Yeah, yeah." Eirian smiled. "Hey, let's go outside before dinner. It's still pretty nice out."

"Sounds great." Lily grinned back. Eirian's stomach still felt nervous. Her theory had been a good one, and whether or not it was accurate now, she doubted that much time would pass before it came true.

* * *

**The Dungeons 1976**

7:59. Eirian looked up from her watch and at the door to the Detention Chamber. She had reached the room precisely a minute before she was due. This was good because the last thing she wanted to do was be late to one detention and get two more as a result. However, the idea of spending more time than she had to with Potter and Black was far from appealing. She was just going to focus on the lines, keep her mouth shut, and get through the hour. Eirian pushed the door open to the empty room. There was one professor's desk in the back far right corner of the room with a line of filing cabinets that reached to the ceiling behind it. In front of that were five rows of six or so student desks. Filch sat behind the teacher's desk, a tower of paperwork to his left, with only a single piece of parchment in front of him. He looked (or rather glared) at Eirian.

"Miss Saise, then?" he asked. Eirian took a few steps out of the doorway.

"Yes, sir."

"Well get in then." He growled. Eirian quickly found her way to the middle of the classroom, seating herself a safe distance away from Filch. She began to pull out her parchment and quill as Filch turned back to his paperwork with almost unintelligible mumbles. Eirian could only make out some of it such as, "be hanging them by their thumbs" and "a solid whipping would set them right."

" Mr. Filch, sir?" Eirian asked. He looked up at her with a look of such annoyance and possibly even loathing that Eirian was tempted to keep her question to herself.

"Well, what is it?" he asked impatiently.

"What exactly should I be writing?" Filch let out a "hmph" at this question and grumbled to himself a little.

"I shall not use magic against other students." He turned back to his work and Eirian turned to start hers. She didn't know what she had expected detention to be like, but she sure hadn't expected that she'd be the only one that had to endure it. Not when there were four other Slytherins, five actually if you counted Severus, who deserved to be here just as much as she did, if not more. Of course, it hit her, they were probably assigned to some other detention by Professor Slughorn. She did not have any hope for them that it would be any easier or more fun than her own nights. Slughorn had to have found out that they were involved in a fight that led to the injury of his prized pupil Lily Evans and the detention of Eirian, a student he also found to be rather gifted, not quite so much as Lily, but enough to be invited into the Slug Club. Eirian wasn't as good at Potions as Lily, but she was particularly adept at Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms. In fact, Slughorn had discovered her abilities at one of Eirian's lower moments when she performed a particularly nasty and difficult (at least for a second year) hex against Sirius Black during one of his first attempts to hit on her. Even though the Slytherins were members of his house, there was no way he could go easy on them.

Not that McGonagall went any easier on Potter and Black because they were students in her house. And where were they? Eirian glanced at her watch it was 8:11. They were over ten minutes late to detention and Filch barely even seemed to notice. Odd. About then, Filch slammed his hands down on the desk and hobbled out from behind it.

"Students think they can come and go from detention as they please." He murmured walking to the door and opening it.

_"Well, that settles that_, _I guess." _Eirian thought, turning back to her work. At least she had a head start to the punishment. Ten minutes of peace and quiet as opposed to…well whatever was to come providing that they actually showed up. She couldn't imagine that they would cut detention. Professor McGonagall would have their heads. It was a few minutes before she heard a commotion outside.

"….you just wait until I tell Professor McGonagall. Then you'll be spending the next few weeks with me. And forget about Hogsmeade!" Potter and Black had walked through the door, calm and collected with Filch following behind them red in the face, huffing, and shaking a little bit. Eirian had turned her head to look over her shoulder, taking a brief pause from the lines.

"You can tell Professor McGonagall that we were late because we had to help someone to the Hospital Wing." Potter said smoothly. "I apologize if I was mistaken in my belief the health of fellow students comes before our other responsibilities."

"Well…" Filch turned a deeper shade of red. "I'll have to check with Madame Pomfrey…and…."

"Alright, then it's settled." Black said grinning. Eirian rolled her eyes. The nerve. "Anywhere in particular you want us sitting?" he turned and winked at Eirian who immediately snapped her head around and returned to the middle of her sentence. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Black make his way to the far right of the classroom, only a row in front of hers. Filch walked back to his desk, still visibly fuming, and Potter, she assumed was on the other side of the classroom. Eirian stole a quick glance and saw Black lazily taking out a piece of parchment and his quill. On the other side of the room, Potter was already copying something down.

"You're to write: I shall not use magic against other students." Filch instructed. Eirian was already about a six lines down on her own piece of parchment, despite all of the distractions. A wadded up piece of paper hit Eirian in the head. Glaring, Eirian looked around the room to find the culprit and was met by Black, turned towards her with a small smirk and his eyebrows raised. He nodded to the piece of paper on the floor.

Careful not to break the glare, Eirian reached down and picked it up, smoothing it out a little so whe could read it. _Lovely night for detention. Isn't it, Saise?_ Eirian quietly crumpled up the piece of paper and dropped it underneath her chair. She moved back to complete her punishment and within seconds was hit by a second piece of paper. She was able to reach the word "magic" in the next seconds before she was assaulted by another wad. Eirian set her jaw, and continued on with the sentence.

"_against other students. I shall not use magic against other"_ A fourth found its mark. Eirian snapped her head up looking desperately at Filch, who was too busy muttering and looking through the papers and cabinets to see what was going on. Eirian turned angrily to face Black who gestured towards the group of papers on the floor with his quill. She snatched another piece of paper, and opened it with an angry flourish. _You look beautiful._ Eirian tossed the scrap of paper to the side where it gently floated down to the floor. She wasn't even able to return to her work before another paper landed in her lap. _Look at the other ones._ Eirian took up one of the other crumpled papers and stretched it open. _You can't ignore me forever. Eventually you'll have to face your feelings._ If this was how he was planning on winning her over, she seriously had to question his reputation as a "lady killer." Eirian brushed her lap clean and returned to her work.

This was just as bad as she had imagined it would be. The tediousness of writing lines coupled by the constant assaults of Black's notes, this would be enough to keep her in line for the rest of the year. No whipping needed.

By the end of detention Eirian had a pile of about 30 or some notes at her feet. She had opened some more. There were a few attempts at poetry, a good number of compliments, a lot of questions including multiple variations of the question: _Why won't you go out with me? _One of the last notes that Eirian opened however was a threat. _I'm not going to give up easily._ Eirian put her ink and quill away, handing the parchment in to Filch. She walked back to her desk and retrieved her bag, slinging it over her shoulder as she made her way out the door. Eirian had no idea where Potter and Black were in relation to her, so she walked as quickly as she could through the halls.

"Hey Saise, wait for us." A voice came from behind her. Eirian struggled against herself to avoid picking up the pace. She didn't want to appear as if she was running from them, but she refused to stop. Potter and Black materialized at her sides.

"You know, you really should have cleaned up that mess of parchment behind you. Luckily James and I were there to take care of it. It should all be safely in your bag now." Black chirped.

Eirian stopped and opened her bag to find all of the different notes in there. She closed the bag and glared at Black, opening her mouth to say something, deciding against it, and then continuing on. Potter and Black laughed as they rushed to catch up to her again.

"Oh come on, I think a little bit of thank you is in order. Not only did we clean up after you, but James and I saved you during that fight." Black pushed. "I'll accept a variety of payments: chocolate frogs, a Charms paper, an evening at the Three Broomsticks. Actually, one kiss and I forget the whole thing. You don't even need to say thank you."

"You're mental." Eirian charged trying to contain her anger. He had just landed her in detention and now he wanted her to give him a kiss or a date or chocolate or whatever?

"Now, where's that coming from?" Black asked in mock surprise.

"You really should be nicer to us or in the future we may not be so generous as to help you out." Potter admonished.

"You think I'm going to kiss you for what you did?" Eirian asked ignoring Potter.

"Well I said I'm open to dates and I-"

"I don't owe you anything." Eirian hissed, finally turning to face them. They were in the middle of a staircase, and Eirian hoped beyond anything that it wouldn't move, leaving her stranded with Potter and Black. "It's because of you that I even got detention. If you had just listened to Severus, we all could have walked away. So forgive me if I don't want you to 'help me out' in the future."

"You're joking! Snivellus attacked us!" Black seemed actually surprised that she used this against them.

"Well maybe if Potter hadn't called him a coward," she shot a glare at Potter who had so far escaped most of her wrath. "he wouldn't have." Eirian turned on her heal and continued up the flight of stairs. Potter and Black followed her.

"Well that's all he is, isn't it?" Potter voice was genuinely angry. "That's all any of them are, picking on younger students in dark hallways."

"Severus was breaking up the fight." Eirian said, continuing up the stairs backward

"He called Lily a….a you-know-what." James argued, causing Eirian once around to whirl around on them.

"That is not your concern Potter. That is between Severus and Lily and Lily's friends. Considering you're not any one of those three parties, it doesn't affect you. Yes what he did was wrong, unforgivable even, but that's _our_ issue. I understand your hatred for wizards like him who care about blood loyalty, who use a person's birth as an attack against them, but you cannot use that one instance that happened a year ago to someone who doesn't even like you as vindication for your actions." Eirian ranted loudly, causing many portraits to voice their protests over such a noise at such a late hour. Eirian apologized and lowered her voice to an animated whisper. "I know you James Potter, and you're not any different Black." She snapped turning to look at Black as well. "You'll use any excuse you think you can latch onto to in order to justify what you do. You _tortured_ Severus for five years when he did nothing to deserve it. He was nothing but friendly and good to Lily until you pushed him too far. And if you think for one second, that I'm going to kiss you and hug you and date you because you stepped in and helped me out because you wanted to show off and you wanted another reason to fight against Severus, then you are seriously deluded. I do not thank you for what you did, because any chivalry or nobleness that was in the action was wiped out by your own selfish reasoning. So, leave me _alone_." Eirian stamped off trying to fight away the angry tears, as she left behind a stunned Potter and Black.


End file.
